My internship at Jaywing PR

Most nights, I go home and mum/dad/the cat/burglars/whoever happens to be in the house ask me how my day was. To start with, I was able to supply pretty straightforward answers like: ‘yeah, was nice. 8/10. Did some press releases and a bit of brand research.’

Increasingly, though, this simple question has become the bane of my life. ‘What did you get up to today?’ asks mum, looking up from her knitting.

‘I conducted a social media audit and used Gorkana to profile potentially relevant contacts for a sell-in.’

‘That sounds illegal, dear. Now, come and help me warm up the valves in the wireless. The Archers is almost on.’

Other nights, I’ve related stories of constructing a model of the UK entirely from breakfast food. This evening, I’ll go home, look my mum in the eye, and tell her that I spent a couple of hours researching and writing about how many air miles sex toys rack up in a year. Send help.

Based on the information I supply them, I wouldn’t be surprised if my family/cat/friendly neighbourhood burglars arrived at the conclusion that I’m doing an internship in a den of sin and chose to ostracise me. However, the truth – as I’m sure you’ve gathered – is more benign: I work in a PR agency.

Working in a creative environment, though it may initially seem similar to a den of sin, actually has a number of key features that allow you to differentiate Jaywing PR from a nest of Lucifer:

1) It’s always endlessly varied. Jaywing PR’s work is constantly morphing both in terms of the range of clients coming in and the type of work they do.

What’s become really clear to me - even in the brief time I’ve had with the team – is just how on the pulse they are. If a tactic to gain exposure for a client isn’t working, they’ll come up with a new one that does. If something goes viral on social media, they’ll adapt their existing campaigns to take advantage of it on the fly. Staying on trend is vital in an industry like this, and the dynamism of Jaywing’s team allows them to adapt to survive.

2) Everyone’s lovely. Having been brought up on a healthy diet of Dilbert comics, I was bracing myself for my first exposure to office life to include cubical warfare, office politics, water cooler procrastination, and soul-sapping mucus grey walls that turgidly leech your life force until you’re a withered and emaciated husk by Friday evening. Fortunately, it is Friday evening, and I can confirm that I am neither withered nor emaciated – this is a large plus.

Instead, I’ll miss my time in the Jaywing PR team: a friendlier, more professional, and more welcoming team would be hard to find.

3) It’s great fun! Like many university students, searching for an internship invariably boils down to the interview where you have to utter the fateful line ‘I’m just really passionate about corporate finance’ (or whatever the company you’re trying to swindle your way into does) – it’s one of those rare situations where everyone in the room knows that you’re lying, so your lie is half-apologetic.

However, no such lie was needed here: working at Jaywing has genuinely been fantastic, and my enthusiasm for their work remains sincere. I’ve learnt a lot, been given interesting and challenging briefs and clients, and hopefully I’ve added some value.

So there we go, then. It’s been an exciting time, and my thanks must go to the whole team for making me feel so at home (and letting me eat your food. Especially the food).